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University of Houston-Downtown
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Implementation Issues: Technical Resources
(Show entire case study)
Technical resources needed for the reforms at UHD fall into two categories: equipment/hardware and technical staff support.
Hardware
Nearly all the Computer Science and Mathematical Science Department instructors at UHD who use
technology in their classrooms pointed out problems with computer hardware reliability. Sometimes the problem was operating system robustness; other times it had to do with software contaminated before class and laboratory activities. A collaborator reflects on his frustration with hardware:
It was hard for me at the beginning. Really, I mean I was completely frustrated. The machine will break down on me-my God, I'm going to have a fit. This is the way it was: it was lousy. You expect everything is going to be perfect, and it's not perfect, by no means. There will be bugs here and there; the machine is going to break down.
(Elias Deeba)
Technical Staff
Adding a dedicated technical support person to the Math Department has significantly reduced the frustration with technical problems experienced at the beginning of the reform efforts. A faculty collaborator explains:
In the past, getting the lab ready, in the sense that students can use the equipment and there won't be any problem during class time, was an issue. Before, we had problems like crashing, for example, or the computer wouldn't start. Now, we have much better technical support than we had in the past. Our support person is now entirely devoted to the department. That is a big difference.
(Ongard Sirisaengtaksin, Faculty)
This improvement in technical support is primarily due to the fact that a staff person
is now located right in the general Math Department office area. It makes it easy for instructors needing technical support to simply drop by the next-door office, rather than seek help from the distant Teaching with Technology Learning Center, which provides University-wide technical support responsibility. The technical staff person comments on this:
I think the Math faculty like that I am near them, and they feel comfortable working with me. I think they prefer to come to me, because the TTLC not only assists our department, but everybody in the university; so it takes a longer time to get help from them. If the faculty come to me, I usually have less to do, so I can get to them a lot quicker than the TTLC would.
(Veronica Martinez)
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